Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) requirements

Understand the requirements for primary and secondary schools. Find out what you're expected to cover and what you need to share with parents/carers.

Last reviewed on 23 September 2026
•Ref: 52000
Contents
  1. Your requirements
  2. Share the curriculum and resources with parents and carers 
  3. Pupils can be withdrawn from sex education
  4. Expectations for what pupils should know 
  5. How Ofsted will inspect RSHE 
  6. Faith schools

 

Your requirements

All schools with a secondary phase (including all-through and middle schools) need to provide:

  • Relationships and sex education (RSE)
  • Health education

This is set out on page 2 the DfE's RSHE guidance.

You must have an RSHE policy

You must have an RSHE policy in place and you must:

  • Proactively engage and consult parents/carers when you develop and review it
  • Publish your RSHE policy on your school's website, and provide a copy to anyone who asks for one

This requirement is explained in paragraph 12 of the RSHE guidance.

Independent schools

All the requirements above apply, except health education isn’t compulsory, because you're already required to provide PSHE. 

Share the curriculum and resources with parents and carers 

Make parents/carers aware of what you’re teaching in RSHE. This might include inviting parents/carers into school to discuss the curriculum and the importance of RSHE Show parents/carers a representative sample of